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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

House Bucket List- its a long one!

I don't know if I ever told you guys the story of our house. Originally it was owned by the hub's grandma- and he moved in with her when he came Pittsburgh for college. He always wanted to fix things and do things to it, but she didn't have the money and wouldn't allow him to do anything.

Its a grand old Victorian. Built in the 1890's full of old thick mahogany woodwork, 12 foot ceilings, pocket and French doors, ornate fireplaces, six bedrooms and one (really big) bathroom. Its stucco on the outside, had zero insulation and no air conditioning.

He LOVES this house- and has always had so many ideas of what he would do to it. Once his sweet, sweet Grandma passed away he couldn't really let this place go. So we bought it- and started fixing it up.

We have made some improvements so far. The hubs built some kitchen cabinets- because we had exactly one when we bought it and added a closet in the pantry. We dry-walled and insulated the living room and master bedroom, complete with new paint. We built a master closet. We repainted the bathroom and installed a new toilet. Sodded and mulched the backyard. Ripped up the ugly old carpet and put in pergo floors. Tiled the entry way and painted the foyer complete with a stenciled wall. Put tile in the basement to make it a little less creepy. Installed central AC. Power washed and re-stained the porch. Built retaining walls in the front. Grayson's room was completed with insulation, paint, painted trim, retiled fireplace and carpet installed. There is probably so much more I'm forgetting.

If you ask anyone, its a vast improvement over where it was- but there is still oh-so-much we want to do. So here's the list- with some before pictures to really give you an idea of what were looking at. Now I didn't attempt to hide any messes in these pictures- it's all real up in here, folks!

-New Front Door
-Finish Gallery Wall
-Paint Cabinet (that has currently been primed for like 2 years-eep.)
-Paint Trim
-Paint or Carpet Stairs and Landing
-Patch the drywall going up stairs
-Paint the upper part of the hallway

Play Room/Dining Room:

Told ya- I keep it real. Didn't even put the toys away.

Water damage on ceiling after bathroom toilet decided to sprout a leak when we were not home.

-Rip out plaster and lathe (which the whole house was, btw) and drywall
-Paint room (don't we all LOVE antique white yellowed after years of a smoker living in the house?)
-New computer Desk
-Toy Storage
-New light fixture

Now obviously, this list isn't going to happen overnight. The hubs is a contractor- so getting him to do work on our house after he does it in other peoples all day is sometimes a bit tough. But we'll chip away at it and get it taken care of.

i love it! I am a sucker for those green tile fireplaces. We have completed a lot of the same projects. Our house is 80 years old, not quite as old. We did a new kitchen (we kept the cabinets and refinished, did new counters, floor, walls, added shelving, new appliances, getting ready for backsplash) both bathrooms were gutted clean and redone. We discovered hardwood under our carpet woohoo! Eli's room is the only done room in the house but TOMORROW our powder room will be officially done. I think. My dad swears he finally found the missing piece (Josh and I tiled, and its thick, and we cant find a transition strip down to the hardwoods). Its fun, and when we are done, we will probabyl move haha. We need more than 3 bedrooms for the gaggle of kids we will adopt.

ahhhhh i can't believe you're wanting to take out the wainscoting in the bathroom!! i live in a small old (40's) cape (that also used to belong to my grandparents!) and the (tiny) bathroom has tile on the walls and since i've owned it (almost 8 years) i've always wanted to either cover the tile with wainscoting or rip it out and replace it with wainscoting. i LOVE that look. although i can totally agree with wanting board and batten walls also, they're gorgeous too! my house is probably a third of the size of yours (if that!) but i have just as many projects i want to do! every single room is (different colored!) wood paneling, there was even birch colored paneling on the cabinets the bathroom till last year when i finally rebuilt the cabinets! i'd love to rip it all down but i don't even KNOW what's under it. unfortunately i don't have a contractor in the house - just me and the cat and he's not much help! :) good luck with everything and have fun with it!! always love reading your blog!! :)

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Welcome to my crazy life!Come along with me as I attempt to navigate the crazy life of a wife, new mommy, professional cheapskate, DIY-er, and teacher

I'm a wife to the hubs and a mama to the bean. A lover of sweet tea and pajama pants. A wanna-be photographer and world traveler. A black and gold football junkie. Cheap at heart, with expensive taste. Spend my days chasing the man-child, DIY-ing my dreams, and keeping a lid on my sarcasm. This is my crazy life, welcome to it.